WASHINGTON – After taking a lead at the end of the first quarter, American University women's basketball (2-10, 1-0 PL) held strong the rest of the way and defeated Lafayette (3-8, 0-1), 75-65 in the Patriot League opener for both teams. The Leopards made a push halfway through the fourth to make it a four-point game, but the Eagles then hit 5-of-6 from the field in the final minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Senior forward Lauren Stack and junior forward Emily Johns led in scoring with 14 points each. Stack went 7-8 from the field and led the team in rebounding with seven boards. She also picked up two blocks.
• Junior guard Ivy Bales picked up a career high of six steals, being the first person in three years to grab five or more steals in a game. The last Eagle to do so was Indeya Sanders in 2020.
• The Eagles had three more players in double digits: Bales, Riley DeRubbo and from off the bench, Kayla Henning.
• For the Leopards, junior guard Makayla Andrews carried the team with 23 points and seven rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Leopards secured the first basket of the game, but Stack quickly responded to get the Eagles' first basket.
• After a back and forth first quarter, the Eagles took the lead with a three-pointer from sophomore guard Bailey Garbee on the last possession.
• With a collaborative effort, the Eagles started off the second quarter on a 14-0 run to force the Leopards to call a timeout.
• Coming out of the timeout, Lafayette went on 7-0 run and started to close in on the Eagles, but AU took a 39-35 lead into halftime.
• Going head-to-head in the third quarter, American held its ground and fended off Lafayette with a strong defensive effort. Both teams scored 13 points in the quarter.
• Henning hit six back-to-back points in the fourth quarter, where she picked up 10 of her 12 points.
• In her first career start, Sadie Stetson sunk a three with a little over a minute left to create a buffer for the Eagles to secure the win.
• Overall in the fourth quarter, the Eagles hit 11-of-15 (73 percent) and hit five of their final six shots to finish with a double-digit advantage.

UP NEXT
The squad will be back on the road against Loyola Maryland on Monday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. After that, the Eagles' next home game will be another conference game against Holy Cross on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now at AUEagles.com/Tickets!

KEEP UP WITH US
For the latest on American University Women's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_WBasketball) and Instagram (@auwbasketball).